One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Petoskey can be estimated by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Fennel

Frost tolerance for fennel:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Fennel do well in quite a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them much earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant fennel in Petoskey is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant fennel and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your fennel may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your fennel indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Petoskey. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Petoskey is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Petoskey you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your fennel in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Petoskey

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Petoskey

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Petoskey.